Flipboard partners with media outlets to display stories on iPad

Flipboard Inc. has partnered with eight media companies – including The San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.com – to test a new way for readers to view digital stories on their Apple iPads and, potentially, open new streams of future revenue.

Flipboard made a splash in the technology and publishing worlds during the summer with an iPad app that displays in a magazine-style format the stories, photos or other Web content shared on Twitter, Facebook or blogs.

The Palo Alto startup has now created a template for news outlets that automatically formats that digital content into a customized display that includes the outlet’s branding. The template allows the content to load faster because it does not need to go through a Web browser. Plus it allows publishers to include full-page, interactive advertisements.

Print publishers have regarded the iPad and a new generation of tablet computers as potential weapons in a battle to recapture the attention of readers who have switched from print to the Internet and now to mobile devices.

Here’s a screenshot:

Flipboard Inc.

Just this week, that battle became more heated when British billionaire Richard Branson launched a magazine designed specifically for the iPad. The monthly “Project,” which covers entertainment, design and technology, debuted ahead of a reported digital tablet publication called “The Daily” being designed by media conglomerate News Corp., according to Bloomberg News.

Other news media outlets like the Washington Post have already launched their own apps. The Chronicle, which is owned by Hearst Corp., is developing an iPad app.

Flipboard chief executive officer Mike McCue said his company’s app enhancement is designed to make it easier for publishers to get on the iPad without having to build their own apps.

“What this gives them is the ability to tweet out a link to an article and have it look every bit as good as their iPad app,” McCue said during an interview.

Full page digital ads are being included as part of the test, although they do not generate revenue yet. The test is meant to demonstrate the potential for the ads to create a “much deeper emotional connection with the reader,” he said.

Another potential revenue source that publishers are examining, charging readers a small fee to read digital versions of stories, is also “something we’re thinking about,” he said.

“We do think there’s value there, but we’re going to run this and see how all that plays out,” he said. “A year from now, we’ll start to really understand where that’s going and be in position to start generating revenue.”